Countdown
by Sk1dr0we
Summary: AU where everyone has a timer that displays the time until one meets their soulmate. Focuses on Amy, everything is written in her POV. I'm pretty bad with descriptions (My writing isn't as terrible, I promise)
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **__So, this is another thing I've been wanting to write for a while, a bit darker than my usual stuff. _

_**00:07:21:15**_

The sound of her alarm violently interrupted Amy's dream, marking the arrival of another day. Except this day wasn't like any that had come before. She shot a quick glance at her watch, just to make sure it still displayed the same numbers. Just a little over seven hours, and she would get to meet her soulmate! The thought was enough to get Amy out of bed, and it didn't take long for her to get dressed and head downstairs.

Farrah and Lauren were already eating, so Amy joined them. Her mom looked up and passed her the cereal while saying: "Morning dear, did you sleep okay?"

Amy had indeed slept well, she'd dreamt the same dream she'd been having for weeks now. In it, she was in a busy shopping mall when her timer ran out. In her dream, she couldn't make out any particular person to be her soulmate. It was an old fear of hers: being alone, living alone and ultimately dying alone. Of course she knew it didn't work that way, the timer counted down until you actually met your kindred spirit, so she didn't tell her mother about the dream.

"Yeah, great. Lauren, can you drive me to school? I'm really not up to taking the bus today." Lauren had gotten a car last month, and Amy tried to take advantage of that as often as she could.

"Fine, just be ready at 9."

Lauren still had some problems with being friendly or even acting like an altogether decent human being, but she tried. At least that's what Amy told herself. The last few weeks, she'd felt like she was growing closer to Lauren, they'd started doing more and more things together. Amy almost felt like she'd gained a friend, not that she'd really know how that was supposed to feel anyway. The truth was that Amy was a bit of a loner. She didn't really fit in at school, but she wasn't really an outcast either. Amy was the kind of girl whom everyone knew, but nobody would notice if she'd disappear.

"Amy, I'm leaving in 5 minutes! Go grab your stuff!" _Almost _friendly.

She went back upstairs to grab her bag, shot another glance at her watch and smiled.

Today, everything changed.

_**00:06:27:12**_

The ride to school went by too quickly, leaving too little time to think about what was going to happen, too little time to ask Lauren for advice. She'd met Theo, her soulmate, a year ago. How they met didn't exactly make for a great story, Theo'd run her over with his bike and they'd been going out ever since.

Amy had known from the moment they'd given her the watch that she'd have to wait a long time. Most people found their soulmate around the age of fourteen, which was a good four years earlier than her.

No one had ever said something about it, but she knew that people thought it was strange. She could care less what other people thought.

The car stopped, Amy nodded a quick thanks to Lauren, and walked into the school building, all the while keeping her head down. It had always been like this. She wasn't like Lauren, who was okay with the majority of the school hating her. Not like Shane, whom everyone seemed to like.

She just wanted to keep her head down and leave the awful memory that was high school behind as soon as possible.

Her classes were dull, as they always were. Why should she care about the Euclidean distance? Spanish was the only class she was actually looking forward to, because she'd get to sit next to Shane.

When she entered the classroom, he was already sitting in the last row, his head leaning against the window. He glanced up and nodded in recognition, and as soon as Amy came within range he started talking. "So, today's your big day!"

Shane was the only one that knew when her countdown ended, and that was just because he happened to see her watch once.

"Yeah, it is… Shane, how did yours go?" It wasn't often that she'd ask someone such a personal question, but Shane was one of the few people she felt she could trust.

"Mine was quite a surprise, actually. I mean, before I met Leon I didn't really know I was gay. He didn't either, so we talked about it. He said that we'd never know for sure unless we kissed, and it seemed reasonable at the time. Well, I was sure after that."

"You seriously didn't know that you were gay? Like, didn't you check out guys before you met Leon?" She couldn't imagine suddenly finding out her soulmate was a girl. Sure, there were people that found their soulmate and kept it at a purely platonic relationship, but those were extremely rare.

"Nope, never even crossed my mind. I mean, I still don't really check guys out, but I'm sure I'm in love with Leon." She wondered what it would be like to be so sure of something. Then her teacher started talking, and the day continued.

_**00:03:16:25**_

During lunch, she went outside to eat, as she usually did. She wasn't popular enough to sit with Shane and his group, and she wasn't social enough to go sit with Lauren and her band of admirers. She was okay with eating alone though. Being around other people was tiring, and this was a nice break. She didn't know what she was going to do after school yet, but she'd decided she should go someplace nice. It was going to be the setting of the most important meeting of her life, after all. The mall was too busy, and reminded her too much of her dream. There weren't any nice, calm parks in Austin, none that she could walk to anyway. Fuck, where was she going to go? She reached for her phone to find a cool coffee spot, but it buzzed before she could grab it. It was a text from Shane: **Hey, we're going to a concert after school. You wanna come with? Might be a good place to meet you-know-who…**

Shane saved her once again. When this was all over, she'd really have to thank him. Amy had never really considered the fact that Shane might be more than just a classmate, but maybe he was an actual friend of hers. She texted back as quick as she could: **Sounds great! See you after school**

_**00:01:08:12**_

She'd never known two hours could take so long. Class had dragged on, and Amy just couldn't find it in her to focus. There should be a rule that allowed people to skip class on days like these.

When her final period ended, Amy had felt a familiar doubt set in. What if Shane wouldn't be there, waiting? What if his text had been some sort of prank?

He had been there of course, smiling that lazy smile of his. Leon was standing next to him, his blue eyes shining, looking at Shane like he was the most precious thing in the world.

Some other people that Amy had never bothered to learn the names of were already sitting in Shane's truck, ready to leave.

"Hey Shane, thanks for inviting me!"

"Sure, we love to have you around! Just hop in, we're about to leave." Leon opened the door for her, and she sat down. Amy was joined by both him and Shane, apparently one of their friends was driving.

"So, what concert are we going to?" Leon looked up and answered before Shane could.

"Are you living under a rock or something? _Pierce the Veil_ is playing, it's the biggest concert Austin's seen in the last decade.

"Wait, so there'll be a lot of people there?"

"A lot? Well, that's quite the understatement." Oh god. This was starting to seem like less and less of a good idea. Not that she'd be able to get out of it now, Shane would never let her go. Leon lightly touched her hand and looked at her. "Hey, don't worry. It'll be fine, concerts are always fun."

"Yeah, of course. Not worrying." She tried a smile. Maybe it was time to let go and have fun.

_**00:00:17:25**_

The concert was indoors, which was good, because that meant they had aircon. It was also bad, because there were so many people that Amy could barely stand straight without bumping into someone. The room smelled like sweat and excitement. It was dark inside.

There was no way she was ever going to find someone in here. Then, the few lights that were still on went out and the crowd stopped murmuring. A few spots punctured the dark and illuminated the stage. She saw some guys with guitars, one of them raised his hand, and then the sound started.

The crowd exploded, jumping and headbanging to the sound that was being produced by the four rather average-looking band members. Their music was everything but average, and Amy found herself dancing to the beat. She forgot all about why she was here, forgot to watch the clock. She just became part of the crowd. And it was great.

_**00:00:03:07**_

Amy was pretty sure she'd discovered what she wanted to do with her life. This was easily the best experience of her life. The energy of the crowd was amazing, swept up by the rhythm of a band Amy was already sure she loved. Then, the people around her started to form a circle. And started to bump into each other. Soon, Amy was pushed into the ring and fell against someone.

_**00:00:00:56**_

She tried to get back to the sidelines, but some over-enthusiastic spectators kept pushing her back in. She tripped, almost fell but managed to regain her balance. Someone ran into her, and this time she landed on the ground.

_**00:00:00:27**_

The excitement that she'd felt only moments before turned into fear. She was going to be trampled. She had to get out of there.

Amy tried to crawl back up, but a feet hit her and she was pushed back down.

_**00:00:00:09**_

The crowd kept moving around her, blind to the girl lying on the ground. She'd managed to avoid being crushed for now, but more and more people were joining the ring.

_**00:00:00:05**_

The band started a heavy guitar riff, and the crowd responded. Amy tried to get up once more, just to see a heavy boot heading straight for her face.

_**00:00:00:03**_

Someone pushed the man who was about to kick her away.

_**00:00:00:02**_

A flash of auburn hair.

_**00:00:00:01**_

Someone grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

_**00:00:00:00**_

"Are you okay?"

_**A/N :**__I'm not sure yet if this is going to be a oneshot or if I'm going to continue it. To be honest (and you may have noticed it from my writing) I only started having fun with this story when I was about halfway done. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading it! I always love getting suggestions, criticism and just regular comments, so feel free to leave a review or PM me._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** _So, I've decided to continue this story, but this chapter does mark the end of 'Countdown'. I really need to get back to writing my main story, or I won't get it done in time. Then again, I might update this next month or so, when I've got a little more inspiration. _

This was it. This was who she was destined to be with. This was her soulmate. And her soulmate was a _girl_.

The girl, who was undeniably cute, looked at her watch and went from looking concerned to looking absolutely stunned. She swept a strand of auburn hair from her eyes and looked at Amy. Her eyes were beautiful, not quite green, not quite brown.

"So, we should probably talk…"

"Yeah, I guess so. Let's get out of here, alright?"

Only now did Amy notice she hadn't let go of the other girl's hand yet. She wasn't about to, the gentle touch felt good. It was weird that she felt this way about another girl touching her.

The girl was already walking out of the concert hall, dragging Amy with her.

A breath of fresh air. They'd left the music behind, and were now standing outside the venue. The girl turned to her and let go of her hand. "So, where do you want to go?"

"I know a pretty good coffee place around here, is that okay?" It was still a little awkward talking to her. Was this how it was supposed to be? Shouldn't she be feeling an instant connection? This wasn't how she'd imagined this day would go, that was for sure.

"Coffee sounds good, lead the way."

Amy started walking, forcing herself to ignore the silence that had fallen between them. The bar she knew was only a few minutes away, and they'd both found a seat before the silence became unbearable.

Amy ordered her usual fancy latte, and noticed that the girl sitting in front of her just ordered an espresso. Amy had to focus on keeping her eyes off of the redhead's lips as she spoke.

"So, let's start with the basics... What's your name?"

"I'm -uh, Amy. Amy Raudenfeld." Did that sound stupid? Why was she so self-conscious right now?

"Alright, I'm Karma."

"Karma? Like, the spiritual power?"

"Yeah, my parents are kinda into all of that. You should see my house, it's full of hippie stuff." Karma rolled her eyes, and Amy had to admit she looked kind of cute.

"How about you?"

"Hell no, I'm not religious or anything like that. I mean, I guess I believe in destiny to some point, with the watches and all, but that's about as far as I'd go." Their drinks came, and they both stayed quiet while they took small sips. Then, Amy took the lead and started bombarding the other girl with questions. It broke the silence and at the same time allowed her to get to know Karma better.

"So, what were you actually doing at the concert?", Karma asked her in return, and Amy didn't really know how to explain it to her.

"Some friends of min

e-" Were they really her friends? It didn't really matter, not right now at least. "- had an extra ticket and they asked me. I'd never heard of the band before, but they're actually really good. Before I almost got killed in a mosh pit, I was really having fun."

"I know, right? _Pierce the Veil_ is amazing! I really wanted to come with my best friend, but there were no tickets left. So, I came here on my own. Now that I think about it, that might not have been such a bad thing."

"So, what are we now? I mean, we're _soulmates_, but what does that mean?"

"I don't know. Honestly, I don't. But we can figure it out, right? I'm not going anywhere. We have time. So why not use it? We don't have to rush into anything." For some reason it felt comforting to know that Karma was new to this too.

She wasn't alone anymore.

They finished their coffees and ordered another round, both feeling like they wanted some more time to talk. Eventually, Amy couldn't stand the taste of coffee anymore and decided she'd been here long enough. She didn't want to say goodbye just yet though. Karma must have been thinking the same thing, because she asked: "Hey, I know this might be early, but do you want to come over to my place? I've got some really good music you should check out, and movies, and-"

Karma was rambling now, and Amy interrupted her. "Sure, sounds great. But I don't put out on the first date!" She was joking, but Karma's cheeks turned red.

Karma had a beat-up rust-red pick up, which somehow seemed to fit her personality. They continued talking during the ride to her place, and Amy started feeling more and more at ease.

Karma didn't live all that far from her, she recognised the neighborhood.

"We're here! So, this is where I grew up…" Her house was actually quite similar to Amy's, but painted in a more _funky _color. The funky theme continued throughout the house, with dreamcatchers and inspirational quotes on the wall. Karma followed her gaze, and looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah, I know. Like I said, my parents are pretty obsessed with this stuff."

"No, don't be! I like it, it feels cozy."

"Yeah, until you want to grab a snack in the middle of the night and you trip over some stray buddha."

"Did that actually happen?"

"Let's just say I'm never ever converting to buddhism." She laughed, a beautiful sound of which Amy couldn't get enough.

Karma opened a door, and they stepped into what looked like the room of an average teenage girl, just with more band posters. "It's kind of messy, don't mind that. Just, -uh- sit down on the bed or something."

Karma went over to her stereo, threw some clothes off of it and put in a cd. Then, she sat down next to Amy and they both just listened.

The music kept playing, Karma softly humming along with the vocals. Slowly, Amy felt herself getting more and more tired. She put her head on Karma's shoulder and drifted off.

_Bzzz-Bzzz_

She had trouble opening her eyes, but she did manage to find her phone. It's light made Amy cover her eyes. It was 4am, who'd text her now? Shane, apparently. '**Where are you? I saw you leave with some girl, but that was 6 hours ago! Call me!'**

Shit, that's right. She hadn't told Shane where she was going, he must be worried sick.

Amy texted back a quick reply, saying she was safe and that she'd tell him everything later.

She put the phone down, and looked around. She was still in Karma's room, even in her bed. And she was wearing decidedly less clothes, nothing but a shirt and her underwear. Next to her, Karma was sleeping on the ground. She looked even cuter when asleep, she was even snoring a little. The sight of her relaxed Amy, and she decided she might as well get some more sleep.

Her head touched the pillow again, and just out of habit, she glanced at her watch. And noticed something was off.

The little counter wasn't just displaying zeroes anymore. It had started counting down again.

_**00:08:39:27**_

_**A/N: T**__his wasn't exactly a fun chapter for me to write. I'm absolutely terrible at writing Karma, just like I'm not that great at writing what is ultimately filler. Still, I hope you enjoyed reading it. Just to clear up some confusion, I also post my stories on tumblr, under the pen name 'Liber4ti0n'. I'm not stealing stories, don't worry. As always, I love reading your feedback, so feel free to leave some!_


	3. Chapter 3

_**00:08:39:27**_

She shook her head twice, making sure that she wasn't seeing phantoms. The numbers kept counting, just like they'd done for a large part of her life. What was happening? She'd never heard of people with multiple soulmates, just like she'd never heard of people whose soulmate changed. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. It was weird enough that her soulmate had turned out to be a girl,she really didn't need another surprise.

Her thought were interrupted by a soft groan from the redhead next to her. "What time is it?"

Amy instinctively hid the watch, then tried not to look guilty. She probably shouldn't tell Karma about this just yet, not until she figured out what to do next.

"Uhm, it's like 4 AM."

"Why're you up? Had a bad dream?" Her voice was a little slurred, and her eyes seemed to be barely registering what was happening around her.

"No, I'm- I'm okay. Go back to sleep, it's way too early."

"Uhm, alright. G'night…" And with that, she fell back asleep. It wasn't that easy for Amy, and she was left tossing and turning for the rest of the night.

_**00:04:18:26**_

"Amy, wake up. Amy!" She was shaken softly, but still she didn't really feel like opening her eyes. Unfortunately for her, Karma didn't give up easy. She started tickling and poking Amy, so finally she gave up and opened her eyes.

" 'Morning sunshine. Wow, you've got a serious case of bedhead. "

"-Uh, thanks." She felt like she'd barely slept, and judging from a quick look in the mirror that hung from Karma's wall, she looked the part. "Do you mind if I take a shower or something?"

"The bathroom's down the hall. I wouldn't use the seaweed shampoo if I were you, it smells terrible. But it's organic and vegan, so my parents like it.

"Got it: no seaweed. I'll be right back." She got up, stretched and quickly glanced at Karma before she closed the door behind her.

Amy tried to be as silent as possible, she didn't want to wake up Karma's parents and explain what she was doing in their home.

The shower helped clear her mind. She had just under 4 hours to go before she was supposed to meet…. whom exactly? She'd already met Karma, and she definitely felt a connection with her, even though she'd only known her for a few hours. Did this mean that the watch had made some kind of mistake?

There was only one way to find out, and she'd have to wait four hours for that.

Getting out of the shower, the realization that she wasn't at home came back to her.

And she remembered that she didn't even bring a towel, let alone fresh clothes.

Amy looked around her, but couldn't find anything to cover herself with. How the hell was she going to fix this without embarrassing herself?

Then, someone knocked softly on the door. She scurried over to it and looked through the keyhole. Karma was standing there, a large towel in hand. "Hey, I forgot to give you this. Can I come in?"

"Uh-, just pass me the towel, alright?" She opened the door to about an inch, stretched out her still-wet arm and grabbed the towel. While pulling it back to her, she accidentally pushed the door open a bit further, exposing herself to Karma completely. Thankfully, she turned away, albeit hesitating slightly. Amy quickly shut the door again, and while the entire thing couldn't have lasted more than a second, and she didn't really see Karma looking at her, she still felt like the redhead's gaze had lingered a bit too long. Flushed, she covered herself with the towel and walked back through the door.

_**00:03:08:47**_

Karma was waiting for her in her room, sitting cross-legged on her bed. She looked up from her phone and smiled. "Just grab some clean clothes from my closet, bottom drawer."

She was about to bend over and open the drawer when she realised Karma was still in the room.

"Uhm-, Karma? Would you mind giving me some privacy?"

She thought she saw her blush, but Karma lowered her head, muttered "sure", and moved toward the door. Then, she suddenly turned her head.

"Amy? Your watch is counting down…"

_**A/N: **__So, you may or may not have noticed that I've been incredibly slow in posting updates, and now that I finally did, it's a short one. First of all, sorry about that. If you follow my other stories, you may have noticed that I decided to stop writing 'Falling Apart Together'. I already had 6k+ words written, but I ultimately decided that the story was going nowhere, so I never published anything. Not only did I waste an enormous amount of time on that, it was also hugely demotivating. I've also been busy with school, went on holiday etc._

_Combine all that, and you get why I spent a month writing 800 words._

_To be completely honest, I'm not sure if I will even write another chapter. I have no idea where to go with this story, and I'm kinda getting tired of writing stories that have ultimately already been told. There's a lot of better-written fanfic on here anyway. _

_Anyway, I hope you've all had a great few weeks, and thank you all once again for reading the few things I write._


End file.
